He's Not There
by Greekgeek852
Summary: Annabeth is a thirty year old mother of two young children who lost her husband in a tragic car accident. What does she do when an FBI agent shows up to her house one morning wanting to ask her some questions?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! I just want to say that this is my first story and I really hope that you like this short little chapter. I would really love feedback so I know if I should continue. Even if it's a short and simple review please! I love the Percy Jackson series to death and sadly don't own it. Please let me know of my mistakes and I hope you enjoy!**

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><p>He's Not There<p>

*Annabeth's POV*

I sat there in my beautiful house in Washington D.C. trying to decide how many stories to make this building I was designing, but I couldn't concentrate. I was too busy remembering the past. It has been two years since he died in that tragic car accident. His life was so short, but his very existence on earth had touched so many lives. He was the sweetest person ever to live and my husband. That was of course until the day of his death.

"Mommy?" The sound of a little girl's voice snaps me back to reality.

"Yes, sweetheart?" I reply as I stand up from my desk and pick the little girl up.

"Are you ok?" I froze as those words repeated in my mind. Are you ok. Was I ok? Of course I wasn't ok it was the second anniversary of my husband's death.

"Of course I'm ok, Grace," I say as I make my out the door, down the hallway, and over to the couch in the upstairs media room with Grace on my hip. "I was just thinking about Daddy again and his new life in heaven. Why do ask?"

"You looked sad," She blatantly states as she climbs higher on my lap and wraps her arms around my neck. Well that was very true. I was really sad all of the time. I was never myself after the accident, but my two amazing children were definitely what made me wake up in the morning. Without them I'd probably just lie there all day watching movies and eating chocolate. I then felt a vibration from my pocket and shifted Grace in my arms. I took my black smart phone out of my pocket and read the text message I had received from Thalia who had been my best friend since I was seven. It read:

Want to meet for lunch tomorrow at Olive Garden?

Without hesitation I responded yes to that very delightful offer. Even though I loved architecture and my kids with all of my heart, I certainly needed a break from them. That break was going to be tomorrow at Olive Garden with my best friend and absolutely no kid's menus. That made me smile.

I then stood up from the black leather couch and put Grace down as I asked, "Was this an eventful conversation?"

"I think so, but why did Daddy leave us?" She questioned in the most curious tone it was heartbreaking. She didn't even know why her own father was gone. I wasn't sure what to say at first, but then I remembered that honesty was always the best policy. I was trying to teach my kids that so why not use it myself?

"Well, Grace," I sighed and knelt down to her level, "The most important thing to know is that Daddy will always love you no matter what. He had to move to heaven because it was his time to go. Eventually we will all have to leave home and move to heaven, and Daddy's time came a little bit sooner than I had hoped." I could see the pained look in this little girls face, because I could recognize it anywhere, it was my face. Her big grey eyes so innocent, frown on her face, and squint in her eyes mirrored mine exactly. She missed her father and I missed my husband. I had the better deal though because I actually got to know him, but he died when she was a baby. Grace was only one and didn't even understand the concept of Dad. I then wrapped my arms around her neck like she did to me earlier and hugged her for a while. I finally pulled away and smiled at her little face. "Now," I continued, "Go downstairs and play with your brother, I'm sure he misses you!" And with that said she ran out of the room giggling and hopped down the stairs. As soon as she was out of sight I sat back down on the couch and scanned the room for the remote. Thankfully it was only on the coffee table instead of all the way across the room. I was super lazy today. I grabbed the remote in my hand and pressed the power button. The screen turned on and a documentary on the behavior and mating habits of lions was playing, and I was immediately absorbed into it. Something about documentaries just caught my interest.

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><p>I woke up later that day at about 4 o'clock. Apparently I had fallen asleep for about three hours. Wow, I was very energized due to that amazing power nap.<p>

"I'M HUNGRY!" I hear two voices groan from downstairs. I smile and role my eyes as I exit the media room and take a quick right to jog down the steps. I turn to my left after I reach the foot of the stairs and walk into the kitchen. What should I make for dinner? Spaghetti! It's fast, easy, and most important of all, tasty. I walked over to the pantry and took a jar of sauce off of the top shelf and a box of noodles off of one of the middle shelves. I turned around and set them both on the island so I could grab two pots off of the pot rack which was hanging over the dishwasher.

I started warming the sauce and adding some helpful herbs. Before I knew it I was about to fill the other pot with water for the noodles when I heard a load high pitched scream from the living room. I dropped the spoon in the pot and ran toward the direction of the living room. As I enter the spacious and well-designed room, I saw Grace standing there with a terrified look on her face and one finger pointing to the ground. My heart skipped a beat as I watch my five year old son play with an eight legged demon normal people would call a spider. I screamed right along with my daughter and quickly pulled my son away from it. I grabbed him in my arms and darted towards the phone on the coffee table. Of course with my luck I stubbed my toe on the side of the couch.

"OH MY GODS!" I yelled as I tried my very best to set my son down gently on the couch. I bounced around for a while trying to reach the phone. Fortunately I only tripped twice. When I finally got the phone I tried to think of the best person to call that lived close to my house. "Think, think, think, think, think!" I ordered myself as absolutely nobody came to mind. "That's it!" I screamed with joy as I quickly dialed the number to Malcolm's cell phone.

"Hello?" Malcom asked questionably probably wondering why I was calling at this hour.

"Malcom thank gods! I was cooking when I heard a scream . . . COOKING!" I hobbled into the kitchen with my toe feeling slightly better. I quickly grabbed a pair of tongs from the drawer and went over to the stove. I swirled the tongs in the pot until I found the spoon and pulled it out. Then I moved the pot off the hot part of the stove and continued to talk into the phone. "Sorry about that but there is a spider in my living room and you have to come and get rid of it NOW!"

"Now?"

"Yes now!"

"Annabeth," I hear him sigh over the phone.

"Thanks you are the best big brother ever!" I replied and with that I hung up. It only took him five minutes to get here and in that time I fed my children chips for dinner. I was such a great mom. Of course like Grace and I Malcom was not a big fan of spiders but he reluctantly killed it for us. I think he likes the whole hero act, so it's a win win situation for both of us.

"Your spider problem is no more!" Malcom exclaims with a smile on his face.

"Thankyou so much," I muttered as we both plopped down on the couch. He grabbed a bag of potato chips from the wide variety of dinner that night and started eating.

"What are brothers for?"

"Not eating my chips!" I complained as a smile lit up my face and I playfully smacked him with a throw pillow. "Seriously though I really appreciate it, and can I just say that mom, you, myself, and any other blood related relatives are extremely afraid of spiders. Even Grace!"

"But not Noah," He replied with a smile on his face.

"I know! He must take after his father I guess who wasn't afraid of anything, or so he claimed. Now my smile turned into a frown as I remembered his bravery. As in the past tense. I sighed as I listened to Malcom go on.

"You know Danielle is going to be so angry with both me and you because you stole me away from her this late," Malcom pointed out to me as he leaned back on the couch.

"First of all your fiancé doesn't get angry," I quickly countered with a hint of anger in my voice, "And second of all get out of my house if you are going to talk about spouses being taken away from people!" By this point my voice was more glum and I was on the verge of tears. I was irritated but sad. So many emotions all mixed together I didn't know what to do. My body was possessed as my hand shot up and pointed to the front door. I could see Malcom sympathetic but annoyed with me as well. Before I knew it the door was slamming in my face. I took a deep breath as I turned around and walked toward the dining room. When I walked in I saw Noah and Grace having a blast and throwing potato chips at each other. They were laughing and having fun which without a doubt put a smile on my face. It took me back to old times when I was Grace's age, maybe a bit older, and Malcom and I would have fun like this. I then remembered what a good parent would do. They would put an end to this fun so their children could get a good amount of sleep. As soon as they saw me walking toward them they immediately stopped and smiled at me.

"Bedtime!" I laughed as their smiles dropped off of their faces. I knew that was punishment enough so I didn't push it any farther.

"Already?" They both wined in unison which made me giggle.

I walked over to where Grace was sitting and picked her up. She was as light as a feather. "Yes, bedtime already. We have a big day tomorrow."

"Like what?" Noah questioned me with a squint in his eyes.

"It's a surprise!" I answered as I ruffled his hair with Grace held tightly in my other hand.

"Come on tell me now!"

"Go brush your teeth while I help Grace change," I said as I pointed up the stairs. And with that he sprinted up the stairs as I followed behind with Grace on my hip. I walked into her room and set her down on her bed. She was almost falling asleep at this point so I made this fast. "What do you want to wear?"

"That," She said as she was pointing to a $300 dress.

"Um . . . maybe another day. How about this?" I had grabbed a purple t-shirt with Cinderella on it and blue pajama pants. They were both so small it was adorable!

"Why not," She replied as her attitude made her seem like a teenager. I quickly slipped her into the outfit and grabbed her little hand as we walked to the bathroom. After we both brushed our teeth, I tucked her in and made my way to Noah's room to say goodnight. When I stepped into his room I found him lying on his bed already half asleep. I slowly walked over and kissed his forehead. I then went into my room and put on a baggy t-shirt and some black shorts. I collapsed on my bed thinking of the yet again tiring day I had. Not to mention emotionally tiring. I decided to put that all off for now and relax. That's when I fell into a dreamless sleep.

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><p>I woke up early that morning unable to fall back asleep. I reluctantly climbed out of bed and threw my blond curls into a high pony tail. I walk out of my room and down the hallway to the stairs and began my decent. I was so tired I needed a large pick- me- up. As soon as I got to the foot of the stairs I remembered what had happened the night before. Why didn't I clean this up yesterday? I scolded myself for not being smarter. I walked into the kitchen and saw the pot full of last night's almost dinner. It must be so discussing I thought to myself as I trudged over to the stove and grabbed the pot. I turned around and dumped it into the sink. I was just about to start scrubbing when an act of the gods saved me. The doorbell rang. I looked at the clock and it read 6:30. I was happy to have company but wondering what someone would be doing here so early. It was probably one of my annoying neighbors again.<p>

"What do you want this early?" I asked in a very annoyed voice when I had opened the door. The sun practically blinded me so it took me a minute to process that this was a very attractive man probably in his early thirties. When my vision finally came back to me I saw that he had a very questionable look on his face. "Sorry," I quickly blurted, "I just thought you were one of my very irritating neighbors." A smile then slid onto his face and for some unknown reason butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. Why did I love this stranger's smile so much?

"I'm very sorry to disturb you, but I am Special Agent Jackson with the FBI and I need to ask you a few questions."

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><p><strong>Well that's the first chapter! Did you like it? I hope you did. Anyways the chapters from now on are going to be longer and better because I hope to improve every time thanks to your reviews! Please keep reading when I update!<strong>

**- Makayla**


	2. Questions With Coffee

I really hope you like this new chapter and please let me know of my mistakes!

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><p>*Percy's POV*<p>

I was putting my belongings into a cardboard box when a gigantic folder was slammed onto my desk.

"Another case?"

"Yeah of course. What do you think we pay you for?"

"I told you after the Caldwell case that I was out for good!" I complained to my boss as he took a sip of his coffee and shrugged.

"I know, Percy, but you're our best agent and we can't risk losing you," He replied to me with a serious look on his face which only meant one thing, don't challenge him or you will regret it. I couldn't help wondering why though.

"Why do you want me to keep working for you? I'm sure that there are many other young men and woman desperately wanting to be a part of the FBI."

"Yeah but they have to go through tons of training and it can be such a hassle."

"So another words you feel like shooting yourself because they are so overbearing."

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Now, get on the case."

"But sir-" but it was too late because his office door slammed shut.

What was one more case? I could get this done hopefully fast and then I won't have to deal with this job and these people ever again. I could move to New York, California, or somewhere random where nobody will suspect like Wyoming.

I have already accepted defeat and that at the age of thirty- one most woman have already chosen what they want to do with their lives and followed that path. What are the chances of them wanting me to be the one for them? I was already in my thirties and I worked for the FBI. All of my time was taken up with that so I had no time to go out and meet girls, so I decided it was best if I just protect America over them specifically.

I went back to my desk and opened the case file. The picture in the front was of a man probably a couple of years older than me.

He had bright blue eyes and blonde hair. I flipped the page and my heart skipped a beat. This picture was of a young woman probably about my age and she was stunning. Even though she was only wearing a comfy blue t- shirt and jean shorts, she was the most beautiful woman I think I have ever seen in my entire life.

She had beautiful blonde curls that made her look like a princess and striking grey eyes. She was leaning against a tree with a gorgeous smile flashing. I looked below the picture and saw that it said she was the wife of the man.

Well so much for my last bit of hope. I looked deeper in the file so I could see why I was investigating. Apparently this man had gotten into a car accident about two years ago and died instantly. It was reported as an accident but other people thought differently.

Homicide maybe? Or was it a suicide? Either way I need to go check this out. I grabbed my keys and headed towards the parking lot where my black SUV was waiting.

I guess you could classify my car as a company car, but every Special Agent gets one and these cars aren't really expected to come back because of well, this profession.

I drove in silence to this woman's house besides the radio playing a popular song by Nicki Minaj. When I finally got there I was speechless. The house wasn't necessarily huge but it was just breathtaking. The design of the house was totally something one would see in the movies, impossible.

Flowers decorated the ground and the path to the front door. Rocks joined them by arranging themselves on the edges of the paths. The design of the gates was gorgeous and then the house itself was old fashioned in a way but it also looked like a house from the future.

After I parked in one of the many spaces provided, I followed a path which was decorated in red stones to the front door. This area had a little patio that was of course flawless. I had to snap myself out of this trance and looked for the doorbell. I pressed it once and heard a muffled ring from inside.

After a minute the door swung open and that gorgeous woman from the case file picture was standing there with a very irritated look on her face.

"What do you want this early?" She demanded. That made me look at her questionably. "Sorry," She quickly blurted, "I thought you were one of my very irritating neighbors." That made a smile slide onto my face and hers as well.

"I'm very sorry to disturb you, but I am Special Agent Jackson with the FBI and I need to ask you a few questions," I replied as she now had a questionable look on her face but invited me inside anyways. She led me to a living room area and sat down. I sat down on a couch across from her as this got more and more awkward with the silence. How was I supposed to start this conversation? Hi I was wondering if your husband's death was planned?

Of course I have had many years of experience having difficult conversations, but she was staring at me with those wondrous eyes. It was almost as if she was drawing me in just to pounce, but she also gave off a kind energy.

"Do you like coffee?"

"So much!" I exclaimed, "Thankyou-"

"Annabeth, Annabeth Chase." She smiled as she walked into the kitchen to work on the coffee. When she returned, she had two mugs of steaming hot coffee and handed me one.

"I hope you like black coffee."

"Of course. To me it just tastes better that way," I replied as there was more awkward silence. "So I guess we should get to the questions then."

"Yes how can I help you?" Annabeth asked as she took a sip of her drink.

"Well can you identify this man for me?" I asked her as I pulled out the picture of the man with the blonde hair. Almost immediately small tears began to well up in her eyes as she took the photo from my hands.

"Um . . . yes this is my husband. He died in a car crash two years ago. Why are you asking me this?"

"Well this morning my boss got an anonymous tip that this accident wasn't an accident."

"This was two years ago. Why now?" Annabeth demanded as she set her cup down on a ceramic coaster.

"That is what I am trying to figure out. Do you know anybody that might want to hurt or kill him?" I wondered hoping that she might have a clue.

"No he was the sweetest guy. He worked at a harmless business office and was overall a normal guy." I listened as she went on about how he was so amazing and normal. I even took notes on the details of their life in case I needed them later.

"He sounds like he led a great life with his career and marriage," I cut in, "I'm sure if this didn't happen you guys would have led an amazing life and maybe even had kids." I hoped that saying this would comfort her seeing as how it has worked in the past. Instead, she got up off of the couch and walked to a table behind me in the living room. She moved a few things around and picked up a photograph. She looked at it like it had brought back painful memories.

"Actually, we did have a family." She handed me the picture and walked away into another room that looked like the kitchen, probably to hide her tears. I looked down at the photo and saw a loving couple holding hands and sitting down on a bench with a young boy in between both of them with the biggest smile on his face and looking down at a little baby wrapped up in a pink blanket all curled up on Annabeth's lap.

I turned it over and read all of their names. It dated June 15, 2012, the day of his death.

"Who are you?" I heard a little girl's voice from the entrance to the living room. I looked up and saw a mini version of Annabeth. I swear it was the same curly blonde hair and grey eyes.

"Ah . . . my name is Percy. Who are you?" I tried not to smile at how adorable this was. A little girl, maybe three or four years old, acting as if she ran this place.

"My name is Grace. Why are you here?" Gods she asks so many questions.

"Well I am a friend of your mommy and we are catching up." I explained as Annabeth made an appearance.

"Grace sweetie, I thought you were still asleep!" Annabeth exclaimed as she picked up her daughter and kissed her forehead.

"I was but then 'ercy woke me up!" She smiled innocently.

" 'ercy?" Annabeth asked with a gigantic smile on her face.

"No 'ercy!" Grace corrected.

"I see now well my friend Percy was just leaving, honey, so say goodbye."

"But I haven't even shown him my doll collection yet!" Grace tried.

"We can show him next time okay?" Grace seemed to give her mother a look like when she couldn't get a new toy, but she agreed anyway. I then watched her hop out of her mom's arms and run down the hallway.

I heard in the distance the cute little voice yelling, "Bye 'ercy!"

After that I looked at Annabeth and asked her, "Next time?"

"Well if you need any more of my help . . ."

"Of course, well thanks for doing this for me," I said awkwardly as I started toward the door. I mean the only reason it was awkward was because I didn't feel like leaving. This place felt like home, and this woman was gorgeous and kind. Her smile made my heart skip a beat and I had never felt this way before. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of paper with my phone number on it. "This is just in case you need to get a hold of me." I explained as I turned around, now standing outside of the house looking in through the front door, and handed Annabeth the paper.

She took it with a smile and thanked me. There was a long lingering silence as we stared at each other.

"It was nice meeting you, Percy." Annabeth put her hand out for me to shake.

I took it and replied, "It was nice meeting you too." As soon as I took her hand though, I felt a spark of electricity fly throughout my body. It looked as if it surprised her, as if she didn't expect it, but then she smiled and began to wave and closed the door.

I walked down the beautiful path I came up to the house on and drove back to the office. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more that was supposed to happen. It seemed so familiar too, as if this had happened before.

Then the familiar ringtone of my phone started going off and I picked up immediately.

"Annabeth?" I hoped I would hear her voice and that she had remembered something else.

"No my name is Sally. I thought you knew that Percy?" I heard a woman's voice say over the phone.

I laughed at myself and replied, "Oh hi, mom, I thought you were someone else.

"Clearly, but I was calling because of what I saw on the news. Some woman named Annabeth Chase was widowed two years ago and there is a story on the news about it. They said something about how it may have not been an accident and how the FBI is working on the case."

"Yes mom I know all of this." I said kind of irritably. I knew all of this information and my mom wanting to get in on all of the juicy gossip wasn't making it much better.

"Well did you know she and her deceased husband went to Goode High?"

"Wait Goode High as in the high school I went to?"

"Yes that's the one." My mother responded.

"I have to go." And with that I hung up on her. Goode High? That's why it felt so familiar. We went to high school together. This case was weird and I was determined to figure out what was up.

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><p>*Annabeth's POV*<p>

As soon as I closed the front door, I felt like I was a teenager again. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered around as a smile slid onto my face. He was so attractive and I knew this was professional, but come on he was hot.

I actually hadn't felt this way since I first met my husband. There was the weirdest feeling though, kind of like I was missing something, but what. I gave up and took a long warm shower leaving Noah asleep and Grace playing with her dolls. When I got out of the shower, I received a text from Thalia reminding me of our Olive Garden lunch. I smiled and got dressed in a pair of comfy jeans and an old college hoody.

I decided that I didn't want to call the usual babysitter and called Malcom instead. As soon as Noah woke up I made him and Grace breakfast. They were just like their father, and they both loved waffles. They ate the rather late breakfast and I got ready to drop them off at their uncle's house.

Both Noah and Grace were thrilled to be spending the day with their soon- to- be aunt and their uncle. I said a quick hello to Malcom and Danielle and then hopped back into my kid safe minivan. I waved goodbye to my children which didn't last long because Malcom felt the need to playfully pick them both up and run inside. Gods I was second guessing myself if I should of called the babysitter.

When I got to the restaurant, I parked my car and walked in hoping that Thalia would already be here.

"Annabeth, over here!" I heard a voice yell from across the restaurant. I made my way over to Thalia hiding my face with my hand because now everybody stopped their conversations and were looking at us.

"Hey, Thalia." I said softly with people still staring at us. There was an awkward silence in the whole restaurant until everyone went back to socializing.

"So how have you been?" Thalia asked me with a huge grin on her face.

"Ah good I guess," I replied, "You won't believe what happened this morning!" I started explaining the whole story. How Special Agent Jackson showed up to ask me questions, how he was weirdly kind, and especially how his smile made my heart skip a beat.

"Special Agent Jackson?" Thalia asked, "That's so CSI or NCIS."

"I know right! Well he was super nice and Grace even wanted to show him her doll collection."

"Her doll collection? It took me three months to convince her! And she loves me! I'm telling you, Annabeth, you should really invite him over again or something." Thalia said with a serious look on her face as she took a sip of her water.

"I don't know, Thalia, I'm really busy."

"Whatever, but you are going to miss out again." I smiled at that comment and shook my head. The rest of the time was filled with us catching up, laughing, and eating our great Italian meals.

Right when we were about to leave, Thalia seemed to hear a familiar voice behind her.

"Ethan?" An attractive man with black hair turned around suddenly and smiled at us.

"Thalia! It's so great to see you. How have you been?"

"Great this is Annabeth." I shook his hand as I watched his dazzling smile. We all sat there chatting for a while until Ethan had to go back to his table. He was a really nice man. Sweet even. Thalia seemed to really like him, so I got to know him a little and learned a few things about him. At the end of our conversation we exchanged numbers and then I watched him go back to his table.

"You're staring." Thalia stated as she crossed her arms and stared at me.

"Am not!" I insisted as I gave her a mean look.

"Okay, okay, but I am just saying you totally thing he's hot."

"So what if I do?" I asked her.

"Well for one, every time I try to set you up you don't go on the date."

"That's because I have two kids."

"And that doesn't matter now?"

"Well I don't know!"

"Okay I'll just drop it," Thalia smiled and held her hands up in surrender, "But I just have one more question."

"What?" I asked with a hint of irritation in my voice.

"Does Special Agent Jackson know your story?"

"You mean that I was helplessly in love and had the perfect suburban mom life with two beautiful children?"

"Yes that's the one."

"Of course, that's what he was investigating. I even showed him the picture."

"The picture?"

"Yes, you know what one I'm talking about."

"I do. Do you have the picture with you?"

"Yes I do." I reached into my purse and pulled out the picture of my family and handed it to Thalia.

"Did you show this to him for the better of the investigation or because you wanted to show off how perfect your life was?"

"A little bit of both I guess." I replied.

"Annabeth you need to let go. He would want to!"

"I know." I said knowing deep down that I would need to let go of my life with him.

"If you ever want to move on to someone like Ethan or Special Agent Jackson, you need to move on from him. Since when did Thalia, get so wise? Here was the gothic, punk girl who sort of looked like a rock star giving me advice.

I stared at the picture of me, my two children, and my deceased husband. I knew I had to let go. I turned the picture over and read the names on the bottom of the photo.

"Annabeth, Grace, Noah, and Luke. June 15, 2012."

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><p>So this is chapter 2. I am really sorry for the people who really liked this story and wanted me to update, but I have been really busy with all of my AP and honors classes. Anyways I was wondering if this was too rushed. Rushed as in I didn't give enough detail not as in Annabeth noticing Percy and Ethan. Also please let me know if you like this story so far. I don't want to continue if nobody will ever read this. Oh and please review!<p>

-Makayla


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